Sharon Horgan adapts a dark Flemish comedy and we’re there for it, while nerds can rejoice (and aren’t there so many of us now) as one of the best sci-fi shows of 2022 drops surprise episodes into Netflix’s dropbox… and that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

JASON’S PICK:
Bad Sisters [Apple TV]
Fresh off her cult following for her breakthrough madcap dark comedy Catastrophe (OK, 3 years), actor/writer Sharon Horgan returns with this series about four sisters who kill the fifth sister’s detestable husband. When insurance companies investigate, that’s where the real chaos… and comedy ensues. Horgan has proven reliable, and this premise, based on the Flemish comedy Clan, is ultra-intriguing. 

BRAD’S PICK:
The Sandman [Netflix]
Surprise Sandman fans! A secret 11th (& 12th) episode dropped on Netflix today! Featuring two fan-favorite stories from the comic. Night of 1000 Cats and Caliope. If you like cats, this is also definitely for you. We now live in a world where we have a good Sandman TV series. How lucky are we? C’mon Netflix announce a second season!

BUT, WAIT, THERE’S MORE:

• Michelle Monaghan gets a juicy role in the Netflix mini-series Echoes. She plays identical twins who pull off the ultimate twin dream of switching lives back and forth. It sounds enticing, but early buzz is not too great.
• For Yellowjackets fans who don’t mind subtitles, Netflix gives us The Girl in the Mirror, a Spanish supernatural series about a girl named Alma who wakes up in the hospital after a bus crash and has to piece it together. And guess what! She is being SUPER haunted.
• Netflix goes all out on Streaming Fridays. Also new on the streaming service, it’s the third series/season of the British make-up reality competition with the great name, Glow Up. Get ready to see some dazzling, and a few disturbing, creations.

• If you were a fan of My Name is Earl or Raising Hope, we’ve got some good news in that Greg Garcia is back with the new comedy Sprung. One bit of bad news is that it’s on a service that might be hard to find, Freevee (known until April of this year as IMDbTV). Another bit of rain on the parade is to remember Garcia is also responsible for Yes, Dear, the epitome of the meh sitcom. That said, this comedy about life during COVID looks more like his quirky recent work and has Garcia regulars Martha Plimpton and Garret Dillahunt.
• For some wholesome fun, Apple TV brings us Surfside Girls, based on popular graphic novels, about young girls in a seaside town who love–you got it–surfing!
• For some wholesomeness turned into creepshowland, Paramount+ brings us the horrorfest Orphan: First Kill, a prequel to the cult favorite psychological mindbender from 2009, Orphan.

• Perhaps the coolest concept and cast of the day belong to the feature film Spin Me Round, starring Alison Brie as an Olive Garden (well, for the purpose of avoiding lawsuits, Tuscan Grove) manager who wins a trip to corporate HQ. It’s in this roundup because in addition to theaters, AMC+ subscribers can watch it at home. The supporting cast includes cool-ass people like Ego Nwodim and Molly Shannon and Aubrey Plaza and Lil Rel.
• Hailing from Poland, the Netflix erotic thriller The Next 365 Days boasts a powerful title and a trailer (click on the title) that is… well, pretty much what you might expect. Yes, there is at least one strip club scene.
• Speaking of sex workers, the Lifetime movie du jour gives the Lifetime treatment to that world with its latest new original flick The Secret Lives of College Escorts. And that’s as good a place as any to close up this Friday round-up.